Pharmacy in meningitis outbreak lacked proper Minn. license

ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Massachusetts pharmacy that mixed and supplied a steroid blamed for a deadly meningitis outbreak isn't licensed to distribute the drug in Minnesota.

State pharmacy board director Cody Wiberg said Wednesday that the New England Compounding Center should have been licensed as a wholesaler and manufacturer in order to sell the drug in bulk to clinics. He says the company has a Minnesota pharmacy license, but that doesn't allow bulk distribution of mixed drugs.

That license only allows filling of individual prescriptions.

Wiberg wouldn't comment on whether the board is investigating. The company's license status was first reported by the Star Tribune.

The fungal meningitis outbreak has sickened more than 100 people and killed 12. In Minnesota, three women have become ill.

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